NEW TOWN - City of Yellowknife

Transcription

103088 Walking Tour Booklet 5/9/06 7:57 AM Page i
NEW
TOWN
Heritage
Walking Tour
of Yellowknife
Northwest Territories
103088 Walking Tour Booklet 5/9/06 7:57 AM Page 1
An introduction to this
heritage walking tour
The first city guide for walking tours of Yellowknife was
published in 1987, and included four routes in the Old
Town area covering many points of interest in the original
areas of community development around Latham Island,
the Rock and the neighbouring flats. This second guide
covers the downtown area of Yellowknife, known in
earlier times as New Town. This area became the focal
point of the community after 1946, and continues to be
the center of an ever-expanding city. Today, modern
commercial and residential areas have spread out from
the downtown core in the opposite direction from Old
Town, making what was once New Town, the center of
the city.
On the center page is a map of the downtown area. Each
consecutively numbered site, street or building in the text
is shown on the map. Italicized sub-headings in the text
describe the general location or direction of the walking
tour route.
You will find that the route described in this guide, along
with the routes described in the Old Town guide, can be
taken in pieces or linked together to cover any amount of
time one might wish to spend strolling through the
heritage of the city.
Certain sites included in this guide, and many more in
the Old Town guide, are documented in the City of
Yellowknife Heritage Committee historical building
inventory. It is available at the Yellowknife Public Library,
the NWT Archives at the Prince of Wales Heritage Centre,
or at Yellowknife City Hall.
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New Town Walking Tour
Downtown Yellowknife, Summer, 1960
A brief history of Yellowknife
Yellowknife, and the adjacent river and bay on Great Slave Lake,
derive their names from the knives of copper originally used by
Dene of the area. The blades were beaten from naturally
occurring copper ore gathered along the northern reaches of
the Coppermine River.
Today, the people of the city’s two neighbouring communities
of Dettah and N’Dilo refer to themselves as the Yellowknives
Dene First Nation. Their ancestors – Slavey, Dogrib and
Chipewyan speaking Dene – have inhabited the area since time
immemorial, with known archaeological evidence dating back
thousands of years.
In 1770, Hudson’s Bay Company explorer Samuel Hearne visited
the area. Next to visit were Peter Pond (1786) and Alexander
Mackenzie (1789) of the Northwest Company, which
established a trading post called Fort Providence near Wool Bay
south of the present site of Yellowknife. Using this post and the
help of local Dene, Sir John Franklin completed his overland
trip to the Coppermine River in 1820. The post was abandoned
shortly afterwards. Aboriginal people continued to inhabit the
area, but others did not come again to settle until the 1930s.
And the reason they came was gold. Though the presence of
the precious metal was first noted at Yellowknife Bay in 1896 –
by miners on their way to the Klondike – the area was too
remote to create any sustained interest. After the discovery of
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pitchblende brought hundreds of prospectors to Great Bear
Lake in the late 1930s, there was renewed interest in NWT
mining potential.
By 1936, Yellowknife was a boomtown. Mining companies sank
shafts on the Con and Negus claims. Commercial gold
production began in December 1938, and Yellowknife became
an incorporated village the same year.
By 1940, the village had a population of one thousand people.
Development was halted during World War II, but a new rush
started when Giant Yellowknife Mines struck gold in 1946.
Yellowknife, then centered around the Rock and Latham Island,
became overcrowded, resulting in the surveying of the New
Town site in 1945.
In the summer of 1953, Yellowknife became a Municipal District
and its first mayor was elected. In 1967, Yellowknife was named
capital of the Northwest Territories, and went on to be
designated a city on January 1, 1970.
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Starting the tour on Franklin Avenue
and 49th Street
You are on 50th Avenue – known as Franklin Avenue, downtown
Yellowknife’s main street – at a key intersection on which the
Post Office stands. This corner is a gathering spot for locals who
come to relax and chat. The Post Office was constructed in 1956
and received a renovation in 1996. Next door at Sutherland’s
drug store, visitors will find a brass plaque with a brief history of
New Town and an aerial view from the 1950s.
(1) Sutherland’s Drug Store
The Sutherland’s drug store chain is one of the oldest retail
businesses in the NWT. The first store was a pioneering effort
opened by Angus Sutherland at Fort McMurray in 1917. In
1938, a store opened in Old Town operated by Walter Hill. The
New Town store was opened in 1956 by Doug and Wilma
Finlayson, after having bought the chain from Dean Sutherland.
It was Yellowknife’s most modern store, second to the Hudson’s
Bay Company (HBC) store.
Sutherland’s Drug Store
Corner of 50th and 50th
Standing on the corner of 50th Street and Franklin Avenue,
imagine yourself here in 1950. The Vic Ingraham Hotel was in
its second year of operation. Yellowknife’s main street boasted a
bank, a theater, retail stores, the Hudson’s Bay store, a lawyers
office and a meat market. Business and private housing was
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expanding along newly surveyed streets branching off Franklin
Avenue. These streets originally had proper names, rather than
the numbers which identify them today. 50th Street was
originally Camsell Street, after Charles Camsell, then Deputy
Minister of the NWT. The Yellowknife Inn remains near its
original site as a prominent part of the Centre Square Mall
complex on main street, but its original structure sat on the
land which is now the mall parking lot at the corner.
New Town in the Late 1950’s
Looking east on 50th St. (Range Street)
(2) The Range Street
This section of 50th Street has become known as Range Street
because of the Gold Range Hotel, bar, and café operation.
Some of the street’s other original businesses were the Frame
and Perkins Garage and Mac’s bakery.
Gold Range Hotel
This establishment replaced the Veterans Hotel, which burned
down in 1956. Both hotels were the vision of Jacob Glick. The
Gold Range was completed in 1958 and has been the town’s
most infamous hotel and bar operation since that time. When
first opened, it gave access to a public long distance telephone
system, that Glick operated as a community service.
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The Gold Range Hotel
The Diner
This restaurant is a gathering place for long-time Yellowknifers,
but it was originally the home of a bakery. Don McDonnell
opened Mac’s bakery in 1949, and sold it in 1956. It housed YK
Bakery and then Territorial Bakery until 1979. This short-order
restaurant is still a classic gold town coffee shop – full of
prospectors and gossipers.
Proceeding West on 50th Street
(3) The Coke Plant and Mine Rescue Station
This street is now dominated by office buildings, but was once
home to YK Meat Market, the Pepsi bottling plant, and the Coke
bottling plant, called Peterson and Auger. The Peterson and
Auger building was used during the 1990s as a pool hall and is
now a clothing store.
The Old Coke Plant
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The Old Mine Rescue Station
On the far end of the street is a renovated building with bright
blue and red metal siding. Reopened in 2002 as the Side Door
youth center, the building was originally the Mine Rescue
station and went into operation in 1950 to serve the 3 local gold
mines – Con, Negus and Giant.
Turn left past the RCMP station. In 1947, one of Yellowknife’s
largest construction efforts was underway on this site as the first
official Stanton Hospital was being erected. The hospital
burned down in 1966, and since then the City has seen two
other hospitals by this name, including the present regional
hospital at the south end of Frame Lake.
Capital Park
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Capital Park
(4) Capital Park
This area has been under active park development since 1947,
when Petitot Park, now called Somba K’e Family Park, was first
opened. Since City Hall was built here in 1975, several years of
grass planting, path paving and landscaping have created a
pleasant parkland.The various paths starting here lead to a
network of trails surrounding Frame Lake. Be sure to view the
plaques and displays behind City Hall that depict the story of
mining in Yellowknife.
Across Frame Lake are the prominent Prince of Wales Northern
Heritage Centre and the Legislative Assembly Building – two
great places to visit and stroll, especially on a rainy or chilly day.
Fireweed Studio
(5) Fireweed Studio
This little log cabin was an original Giant Mine building from
1938, when the mine was just a prospect. It was moved to the
present site by the YK Museum Society in 1973 and has been
used as a summer shop ever since. It is a designated heritage
building.
(6) Gerry Murphy Arena
This arena was Yellowknife’s first indoor rink and is now over 50
years of age and nearing its end. The construction of the arena
was a large community effort, with $25,000 raised locally in
1948. Gerry Murphy was one of the men who spearheaded the
project, along with many other well- known Yellowknifers.
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Gerry Murphy Arena - Demolished 2004
51st & 52nd Streets
(7) Homes of the Politicians
This section of the town has been home to some of Yellowknife’s
more renowned residents and politicians over the years. These
were the first streets to undergo residential building projects in
1946. Residences lined 52nd Street, and government
apartments lined 53rd. Some well known Yellowknifers that
lived on these streets include John Parker (Commissioner of the
N.W.T. 1979-1989), “Jock” McNiven (first Mayor of Yellowknife
with an elected Council 1953), Fred Henne (Mayor of
Yellowknife 1956-1957, 1968-1973, 1976-1979) and Fred Fraser
(Chairman of the former District of Yellowknife 1944-1948).
Below is a picture of recent Mayor Dave Lovell’s home, which
was built in 1946 as staff housing for Boyles Brothers, a drilling
business.
Former Mayor Dave Lovell’s House
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Hudsons’ Bay Store Managers House
(8) HBC staff house
Another relic in new town is the Hudson’s Bay staff house.
Sandy and Dorothy Scott were the first managers of the
Hudson’s Bay store which stood on Franklin between 51st and
52nd streets. That building was torn down in 2002 to make way
for a new Government of Canada building. New Town’s original
Capitol Theater was once located across the road on Franklin
Avenue. The new theater remains close by, but the old theater
building now stands down in Old Town.
Back on Franklin Avenue
at the corner of 51st Street
(9) Diamond Capital of Canada
Yellowknife was built on gold, but today it is thriving on
diamonds! Already, one mine is in production 300 kilometers
north of the capital, and soon more are to follow. One advanced
project is Diavik diamond mines. Visit their town office at the
old Bromley and Son hardware store and view the diamond
exhibit for more information on the future of the northern
mining industry.
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The Old Federal Building - Demolished 2005
Glen Street in the 1950’s
East on 51st Street
(10) Government row (Glen Street)
Built up with government offices and services, this was to be
Yellowknife’s main street in 1947. Glen Street is very much the
same as it was 50 years ago. The old Federal building (used
since the 1970s by the Tree of Peace as the Native Friendship
Center and proposed for replacement soon), the old Signals
station, and the RCMP barracks are still in good repair and
continue to be used.
(11) Fort McMurray Houses
These three identical houses were brought by barge from Fort
McMurray in 1950. They previously served as staff houses for
crews working in the Athabasca Tar Sands area during in the
1930s and 1940s.
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The Fort McMurray Houses
To 52nd Street
(12) Jolliffe Island House
This imitation brick-sided dwelling originated on Jolliffe Island
in 1938, and was the staff house of the Fort Resolution Lumber
Company. Waterfront lots were most desirable when the only
means of transportation was by boat in the early years of
Yellowknife settlement. Some of the better homes of the early
era were located on Jolliffe Island, but when New Town
developed, most of these houses were moved. One Yellowknife
tradition is to reuse and recycle, and in 1950 this house was
moved into the fast populating New Town to be used as a house
for Con Mine workers and their families. Bob Robertson, for
whom the tall Con Mine headframe is named, was just one of
the people who lived in this house at its current site.
The Jolliffe Island House - Demolished 2005
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Vaydik’s Old House
Back to Franklin Avenue
(13) Vaydik’s Old House
Interesting, in part, because it is unusual for an aging shack to
stand on a city’s main street. This house was built in 1946 by
Frank Moyle, and was home to the Vaydik family in the 1950s.
The Cinnamon House
A quick detour down 53rd Street
(14) The Cinnamon House
Now a beauty salon, this 1946 house was built by Glen
Cinnamon for his large family. The Cinnamon family did
various things around Yellowknife over the years, including
wood-cutting for the mines, providing laundry service and
garbage collecting for the City.
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This area was another of New Town’s early residential areas. In
fact, many of the houses along this section of 53rd Street,
although hidden beneath new siding, are original houses from
the 1940s. A few lots down from the Cinnamon house is an old
garage that may have been the shop for the garbage business
run by the family.
Original Mildred Hall School
Mildred Hall School Grounds
(15) Schools Were Made of Logs Back Then
The original Mildred Hall School is one of Yellowknife’s more
notable designated heritage buildings. A tiny log cabin built in
1937 by a mining company, it was sold to the Yellowknife school
board to be used as a school. The cabin has been moved twice,
and now sits on its permanent site on main street, where it is
hoped a small museum displaying the City’s education heritage
can be established.
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals Residence
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South on Franklin Avenue
(16) Royal Canadian Corps Of Signals
This house was home to employees of the RCCS in the late
1940s and throughout the 1950s. It was one of three identical
houses originally built where Mildred Hall School now stands.
Back then, 54th Street continued across Franklin Avenue up
towards where Somba K’e Park is. If you search closely around
the New Town area, you can find the two other identical RCCS
houses.
Continuing east down 54th Street, head down past the Northern
United Place up the hill. This was just one of the obstacles
construction workers were faced with when laying out New
Town in the 1940s. Rather than blasting this rock, it was decided
to just run the road, and the houses, up over the small hill.
Department of Transport Houses
East on 54th Street
(17) The DOT Block
To the right between 54th and 56th Streets is a section of
Yellowknife fondly known as the Department of Transport
(DOT) block. All the houses on this block were built by the
Canadian Army and the Department of Transport in 1948 as
family housing for crews establishing and later operating
Yellowknife’s Airport. On 54th Street are two old DOT offices
and a large garage.
This area is perhaps one of the oldest non-disturbed residential
areas in New Town, and some of the trees in these yards are the
largest and most spectacular you will find around Yellowknife.
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The hill behind the block also becomes one of Yellowknife’s
greatest sliding hills in the winter. It has had many names
associated with Yellowknife, such as the Army Rock, DOT Rock,
and Burwash Rock.
Old Negus Townhouse
The Negus Block
54th - 55th Streets
(18) Negus Block
Another of New Town’s original neighbourhoods is located here.
Many of the houses, especially along 55th Street, are old Negus
Mine townhouses that were brought here when the mine closed
in 1953. Negus buildings were being sold off at a price of $250 in
those days and by 1960, the original Negus townsite had been
cleared of buildings.
(19) The Original Mining Recorder’s Office
It doesn’t hold that appearance today, but this old house was
actually one of Yellowknife’s white false-front government
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buildings on Latham Island back in the 1940s. It held the office
of the Mining Recorder starting from 1940 to 1946, when the
government offices moved to New Town. In the 1960s, Archie
Mandeville arranged to move the house to its current lot where
he retired.
Archie Mandeville’s House
53rd Street
(20) Rayrock Mine house
Another Yellowknife reuse, this house originated at the Rayrock
uranium mine north of Rae/Edzo and was moved here when
the mine closed in 1959. Rayrock was a short-lived symbol of
the uranium rush of the mid 1950s that failed to hold the same
legacy that the gold rush played on Yellowknife in the 1930s.
Old Rayrock House
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The NWT has served as prospecting grounds for gold, uranium,
and diamonds, as well as copper, silver, radium, tungsten,
tantalum, and lead-zinc. Each of these have been mined and
produced over the last 60 years.
West on 52nd Street
(21) The Bishop’s Shack
This small grey shack with red trim was built in 1946 by Glen
Cinnamon for his mother Velma. Soon after, the building was
sold to the Catholic Church who had built a large convent and
school nearby and needed a house for the Bishop.
The Bishop’s Shack
(22) Tough Moves
This tall house was built at the Snare River hydro plant in 1948.
The Snare Hydro project began in 1947 in order to supply the
Giant gold mine with power, and has remained as a primary
power source for Yellowknife ever since. In the 1960s, it was
decided to move this house and several others into the city by
cat train over winter roads. Famous ice road engineer John
Denison was in charge of moving this house, and he tells of a
very difficult trip due to the house always wanting to tip over
along the 150 kilometer ice road trip.
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One of the Snare River Houses
North on 52nd Avenue
(23) Frenchy’s Transport
In 1961, famous Yellowknife photographer Henry Busse
captured crews on film hauling the old Frenchy’s Transport
office from Old Town to its New Town lot. This was only the first
move. Later in 1975, it was moved again to its present site.
Frenchy’s Transport was the town’s leading transportation and
mining expediting business for many years. “We Serve the
North”, was their famous slogan, and perhaps one of their most
memorable undertakings was the annual Bombardier run over
Great Slave Lake to Hay River.
Frenchy’s Transport
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Frenchy Lamoureux had the contract for freight haulage to and
from the Giant Mine, and he even had his own garage built at
the site for his trucks and crews - fondly given the name
“Frenchy’s Garage”. His men, who often lived in the Giant
bunkhouses, were also responsible for road building, rock
disposal, and some construction at the mine.
Old Negus Bunkhouse
52nd Avenue
(24) Negus Bunkhouse
This is yet another old Negus building that was taken from the
mine following shutdown. It was purchased by the Town
Council in 1953 and moved here as staff housing for the nearby
water and sewage treatment plant.
(25) Akaitcho Hall
A lot of lives were formed out of Sir John Franklin High School
and Akaitacho Hall Dormitory. Akaitcho Hall became a home
away from home for students attending Sir John from the
smaller settlements outside of Yellowknife. The facilities for the
school and dormitory were built in time for a grand opening in
1958, and “Sir John” has since served the needs of northern
youth. Today, Akaitcho Hall has become obsolete and the
memorable building stands a good chance of demolition.
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Akaitcho Hall
48th - 49th Streets
(26) The Giant Block
This entire block is composed of Giant Mine houses, first built
up in 1952 with small frame dwellings and later expanded with
portable trailer units. During this time, it was cheaper to buy
town lots than to expand the mine’s townsite. Employees
generally preferred to live in the town center, and a short gravel
road provided a quick commute to and from work each day.
This narrow and windy dirt road has since turned into a
straight, paved highway.
Giant Mine Houses
(27) Polar Parkas
This building was built in 1955 on the site of the present
Bellanca Building as the offices of Norman W. Byrne. Byrne
was one of the NWT’s famous mining engineers and helped to
create some of the region’s most well known mines - Discovery,
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Polar Parkas
Tundra, Camlaren, and Rayrock. His business expanded over the
years, and eventually new office space was required. In 1972, the
building was sold to the Salvation Army and moved to its present
site. It is currently being used as a retail clothing store.
North Along Franklin Avenue
Continue up 49th Street to Franklin Avenue once again. Check
out the Northern Images Art gallery, originally Yellowknife’s first
museum. (28). Opened in 1962, the building housed a wide
array of northern artifacts and collections. Later the building
served as the public library.
(29) Vittanen’s Bathhouse
For many years in Yellowknife, Con Mine had the only running
water supply in the area. Public bathhouses were one solution,
and in 1947 Evald Vittanen connected himself to the New Town
water system and charged people for a scrub in a tub. In later
years, the Gold Range Hotel would offer this service, and we
really don’t know for how long Mr. Vittanen was able to keep his
business going.
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You are now travelling toward Yellowknife Bay on Yellowknife’s
main street. This is the route that connects the Old Town and
the waterfront to the New Town area of the city. In the
beginning, this road was merely a rugged hiking trail for local
Dene, who used this area of bushland to collect berries, hunt
and trap.
Vittanen’s Bathhouse
(30) Don Hagel’s Law Office
Once the home to a lawyer, this little shack has had many uses
over the years. It was built in Peace River Flats in the 1940s, and
moved to New Town in 1947 behind the current Sutherland’s
Drug store. Here it served as a restaurant, meat market, and law
office into the 1950s. Johnny Rocher moved the building to its
current site beside the Yellowknife Arcade in 1967 where it has
been used for many commercial enterprises, including a jean
store, sports shop, and hair salon.
Don Hagel’s Law Office
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“Jock” McNiven’s House
Continue down main street passing by the Salvation Army (31)
building and the old firehall (32). Turn up 44th Street past St.
Patricks High School (33). This school is sided with zinc plating
shaped as fish scales. Turn down a winding road (44th Street)
towards Yellowknife Bay.
School Draw Avenue actually pre-dates the development of New
Town and is really a part of Old Town history. The road was built
in the early to mid 1940s to connect the Con and Negus Mine’s
with Yellowknife of the day. The area became populated with
smaller shacks, but no substantial residential development was
undertaken. A few of the original Metis and Dene families of the
City lived here until being moved out to make room for city
development, which eventually led to new housing projects in
the 1970s.
(34) Jock McNiven’s House
This beautiful house was built at the Negus Mine waterfront in
1942 for mine manager and Mayor “Jock” McNiven and family.
When the mine closed in 1953, the house was put up for sale.
Local prospector Jack Stevens bought the house in 1955 and
moved it to School Draw Avenue, the most secluded area of
Yellowknife at that time. The Steven’s house became the largest
house in this area, at least until the 1970s when it was surveyed
as part of Yellowknife and new government housing sprung up
overnight. This lovely little house has been well maintained and
still holds many of its 60 year old memories.
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(35) The Skyscraper
Built in 1970, this became the largest house in the School Draw
area. It is interesting to note that the house was built of salvaged
lumber from the old Ptarmigan gold mine outside of Yellowknife,
demolished in the late 1960s. The old headframe at Ptarmigan
was dismantled, and its beautiful BC fir panels were collected by
Sven Lund to side this house.
If you follow School Draw Avenue and head down to the water
pump station on Yellowknife Bay, you may be able to spot the
ruins of one of Yellowknife’s old schools. This school was built in
1941 to service the Con, Negus, and Yellowknife areas. The
building was later demolished in the 1960s having been used
until then as a gathering place for the local armory organization.
The “Skyscraper”
This concludes the walking tour of New Town. If you’d like, you
can continue up School Draw Avenue and take a hike over Tin
Can Hill, a road that connected the Town to Con Mine in the
1940s. This was also the location of the mines trash dump,
hence the name Tin Can Hill. You can also visit the Con
townsite and checkout the old Rec Hall, and Yellowknife’s very
first Stanton Hospital, built in 1938.
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If you would like to know more...
Several books about Yellowknife are available at the Yellowknife
Public Library, The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,
or the bookstores and shops around town.
© City of Yellowknife Heritage Committee, 2006.
The Heritage Committee would like to recognize and thank
the many people who have assisted in the creation of this
guide over the years and all people who share an interest in
our City’s history.
Researched and Revised by: Ryan A. Silke
Edited by: Dave Jones and James Lawrance
Photographs by: Ryan A. Silke and courtesy of the NWT
Archives
The Yellowknife Heritage Committee acknowledges the
contributions of the Governments of Canada and the
Northwest Territories in the production of this publication.
Designed by: Outcrop Communications Ltd.
Printed by: Canarctic Graphics Ltd.
29

NEW TOWN - City of Yellowknife

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